Tag Archives: facebook

02.15.2013

Spring Cleaning. It’s almost that time of year. And, well, my apartment complex has decided that spring cleaning should happen in February (we actually have annual cleanliness inspections–lolwut). So I’ve created a temporary board for ideas on getting my home to look sparkly and new. (Since I already have these pins mixed in with other random tips and tricks, I’ll probably delete this board at the beginning of summer.)

Vine. I’ve been thinking about possibly getting into the Vine app, but I’ve heard complaints that there is a major problem with porn in the app. Basically, the app allows users to upload 6-second videos to Vine, which can then be shared on Twitter and/or Facebook. Much like on Twitter or Instagram, you can explore trending topics and hashtags (which, I’m guessing, is where people are happening upon explicit material). Since Vine has received a lot of complaints about children finding pornographic clips, Vine has changed its age restriction to 17+. (I may still get try it because it seems I may need to know how to use it as a journalist.) Available in iTunes for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. FREE.

Tamagotchi. Nineties kids, rejoice. Tamagotchi is back (and probably needier than ever). Sure, you won’t get to carry your digital pet around on a cool key chain, but who cares? You get your favorite little guy back (and no pesky teacher can ban you from having it)! And this time, your mom won’t have to feed it every ten minutes. Just whip out your phone and feed your pet, then get back to work–just don’t let your boss know that’s not really an important email you were checking. Available in Google Play for Android. (iTunes version is in the works.) FREE.

Pitch Perfect. Thanks to Redbox’s Valentine’s Day code from Redbox, I rented Pitch Perfect for free last night. We’re going to watch it tonight as part of our Valentine date. (There were supposed to be two Valentine codes–I was going to rent three movies in all–but one didn’t work; that was disappointing because I wanted to rent the latest Bourne movie for Josh to watch today while I’m not home.)

The Watch. Another freebie from Redbox. Yesterday, Redbox posted a code on Facebook to celebrate reaching 5,000 fans. We’ll also be watching the Watch tonight. (We’re both stoked about this movie.)

Gumbo. On Fat Tuesday, my sister shared this Chicken and Sausage Gumbo recipe on my Facebook wall and told me to make it for her. I haven’t made it yet, but, although it’s no longer Mardi Gras, I still really want to try it. Obviously there will be photos if I make it.

Spiders. Have you seen this video of the bajillion spiders raining down in Brazil? Creeeeppppyyyy! According to the Washington Post article, this isn’t uncommon. Sometimes the wind picks up these spiders (they make big webs in the sky) and when it releases them, they look like they’re just falling from the sky. So… I think I won’t be going to Brazil, like, ever.

Dove. Have you seen this commercial from Dove? It was kind of surprising considering Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. This commercial (and the comments posted below it) presents a good discussion about a happiness tied to beauty products. I’d love to read your thoughts about this in the comments!

Post-Valentine’s Day. Today is one of my favorite holidays: the day after Valentine’s Day. It’s a magical day when all the Valentine crafts and candies go on sale (like, 50-plus percent). It’s beautiful, really. I hope I don’t get to the store too late to rack up on some adorable Valentine sprinkles. And lots of chocolate. Because it offers lots of health benefits, and even if that list isn’t super long, it’s good enough for me.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I got a nice Valentine surprise yesterday when I came home and found a card with my name on it waiting in the basket where Josh and I put our keys. I opened it and gushed about how sweet it was that he bought that for me.

But there was more.

He also bought me The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve talked about really wanting to watch it since before it even hit theaters (I loved, loved, loved the book). It was so nice because I wasn’t even expecting anything (we had agreed on no gifts this year), but also because he listened (it’s not like I’ve raved about that movie–I’m pretty sure I only mentioned it a few times). It made me feel really special.

On a separate note, I adore that I’m not too old to get Valentines from my mom, who sent me a super sweet card and has reminded me that she loves me at least four times in the last four hours.

As a media professional (and a blogger), I rely on social media to drive traffic back to the content I write.

You may know already that I use many forms of social media, but today we’re going to focus on Facebook. (And, because I generally don’t like to talk about the goings-on of my job, we’ll be focusing on my blog rather than what I do at work. If you’re reading this as a journalist, keep in mind that using social media for general blogging is a bit different than it is for news outlets. Poynter is my favorite site for information about using social media with reporting.)

Facebook: a learning process

We’re looking at Facebook today because it’s been on my mind a lot lately. I keep wondering how I can use Facebook to gain readers on my blog. My biggest struggle with Facebook is turning likes into page views. No matter how much my Facebook following grows, my blog stats tell me that, at most, I’m only getting about two or three clicks from Facebook per day. I’ve been doing some research to try to fix that.

Unfortunately, most of the data I’ve found applies to businesses rather than media companies.

Figuring out how to use social media to bring in more blog views is definitely a learning process for me, and I don’t think I’m alone. Just look at all the how-to’s, infographics and other teaching tools populating sites like Pinterest, Twitter and Google+. These tools certainly aren’t hard to find, but they all say the same thing: post this item at this time for the most likes/shares/comments. I have yet to find an article that explains how to turn those likes/shares/comments into page views for my blog.

Maybe that’s because no one really knows.

I think we’re all still trying to figure out Facebook (and social media in general).

But I do have a theory about how to grab readers’ attention through Facebook.

I think it has more to do with content than anything else. It’s a lot like publishing a newspaper or magazine. What attracts people to pick up one publication over another (beyond easily-recognizable publication titles)? Photos. Headlines. Content.

Yes, many Facebook users enjoy looking at a nice photo, and photos will probably attract a good deal of likes and shares, but the I believe textual content of your Facebook post is what’s most important. Tell your readers why they should click through to your website. Otherwise, they may just like the photo and move on.

Links

Here are a few articles I’ve read about improving Facebook stats (though, like I mentioned, most are to get more likes/shares/comments rather than clicks):